


Click

by glassgoblin



Series: Random Rogues [134]
Category: Star Wars Legends: X-wing Series - Aaron Allston & Michael Stackpole, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-22
Updated: 2015-05-22
Packaged: 2018-03-31 17:34:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3986767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glassgoblin/pseuds/glassgoblin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was a click when he sat down and Wes knew that his day had just gotten a thousand times worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Click

There was a click when he sat down and Wes knew that his day had just gotten a thousand times worse. He was sitting in Hobbie’s X-Wing, about to change his friends regular jump music for something that would annoy him for hours, and Wes really should have known better than to think that his prank would go off without a hitch.

Wes swore and felt his jumpsuit pockets, looking for his comm device. There wasn’t anything to do except call for help. He knew he wouldn’t get out of this any other way. Not if he had just sat on a bomb.

Their newest base wasn’t the most secure system for Rebels; newly liberated there were several squads of stormies that had been unaccounted for at the government’s official turn-over. Those troops had been wreaking havoc on the planet, and now they had been causing trouble on the new Rebel base in the system. Small acts of sabotage became small bombs left in ships. The week before a Y-Wing had gone up in a ball of fire with the pilot as they got ready for a mission. Two days after that a store room door was rigged to blow upon opening and three people in the hallway had been killed.

Now Wes had sat on something that made him very nervous. “Commander Antilles, this is Janson, I require assistance in the main hanger. Could you maybe send someone who can deal with bombs?”

‘Bombs? Wes, are you alright?” Wedge’s voice came through clear, his focus instant.

“Maybe. I’m in Hobbie’s X-Wing and I think there is something under the pilot couch, it clicked when I sat on it.” He was a little hesitant, wondering if maybe he was just over-reacting and Hobbie had dropped something on their last flight. There could be something like a data card under there, and maybe he broke it when he sat on it.   Or one of the screws holding the seat together finally gave under the pressure. A trickle of sweat slid down his brow, and he bit his lip. “Maybe Hobbie should come down here too.”

“Sit tight, someone is on their way. I’ll get Hobbie and come down there too.” Wedge sounded tense and Wes wished that they would hurry, but at the same time he sort of wished that they would stay away too. He didn’t really feel like having an audience.

By the time the bomb tech arrived it was getting hard not to fidget. The woman climbed up the ladder next to the X-Wing and leaned close, flashing a reassuring smile, “So, Lieutenant Janson, I heard that you might have a slight problem. I need to see what’s under there, so try to be as still as you can and I’ll use my little wands here to see what is there.” She held up two long instruments that seemed fairly low tech; metal rod with mirrors at the end.

The instruments were angled under the pilot couch and Wes tried to remain calm, and frozen in place as she made small ‘hmming’ noises. “Alright, Lieutenant, stay right here and I’ll let my partner take a look.” She handed the tools down the ladder to a younger man and switched places with him carefully. As he looked under the couch Wes saw that Wedge, Hobbie and several of the other Rogues had arrived.

“What are you doing in my X-Wing Wes?” Hobbie looked worried, but he also had his arms crossed and was leaning against the next fighter in the line, which was Tycho’s.

“You know, the usual. Did you booby-trap it?” He tried to keep his tone light, but his anxiety bled through anyway, if the looks on their faces was any indication.

“No, not yet. Trying to take my place in the ‘stupidest way to die’ contest?” Hobbie took a step forward and one of the waiting MPs put a hand on his chest to hold him back. He gave the young officer a dirty look before facing Wes again. “You were doing naughty things, weren’t you?”

Tycho snickered, covering his mouth for a second, “Don’t say that Hobbie. You don’t want to know what I just pictured Wes doing in your fighter.”

Hobbie rolled his eyes and looked at the busily conferring bomb techs. They were very serious and were gesturing toward different tools for several seconds before moving to Wedge.

“There is a small device, which seems to be weight-triggered. The easiest way to take care of it would be to have Lieutenant Janson stay where he is until we can cut the connections.” The woman gestured toward the ladder that was next to Tycho’s fighter, “We’ll need another of those so we can work on both sides.”

Wedge nodded and two mechanical techs moved the ladder quickly out of its customary spot and wheeled it around to the opposite side of Hobbie’s X-Wing, locking it into place without the slightest vibration. They all watched the bomb techs work. They leaned into the fighter as Wes waited, still sweating. They spoke quietly to each other and to Wes occasionally, and even though it seemed to take a very long time, it was only a matter of minutes before they both stood, holding wires and bits of a detonator.

The woman leaned closer to Wes for a moment, saying something that made him blush and then she climbed down the ladder. “We need further access to the X-Wing so we can collect the rest of the device. Hopefully it will provide some clues as to the person who set it. An investigation will have to be conducted on how someone managed to get access to Lieutenant Klivian’s X-Wing as well.” She nodded to Wedge and set the pieces she carried into an evidence tray that the MP held out for her.

Wes was getting out of the X-Wing, trying to appear normal, but looking a bit shaky. “Hobbie, I am never getting into your X-Wing again. I think it might be cursed.”

“I told you it was.” Hobbie shook his head, smiling at Wes, “And all this time you insisted it was me.” He glanced at Wedge, waiting to see if there would be orders.

“Get him to his quarters and make sure he cleans up. We’ll meet in an hour so that he can give a statement to the investigators.” Wedge shrugged, and slapped Wes’s shoulder. “Setting up a new protocol for this base is probably next on our agenda.”

Wes grimaced. “Figures, I almost get blown up and all that happens is that we get new rules to follow.”


End file.
